A man trashed his South Carolina motel room on orders from a prank caller, who told him there was a "midget" imprisoned next door.

Joseph Jones, 73, damaged a television, mirrors, and the wall between the rooms in an effort to free the captive homunculus, local TV station WYFF reports.

The prankster rang the Motel 6 room at 11pm on Sunday night and told Jones he was under surveillance via "highly sophisticated" hidden cameras.

To get rid of them, the caller said, Jones needed to smash the TV with the toilet cistern lid, and then throw it out of the window. He complied.

The credulous septuagenarian then obeyed an instruction to smash the room's mirrors, before having at the wall with a wrench to release the aforementioned dwarf.

Jones related this tale to skeptical Spartanburg County deputies who attended the scene after other motel guests complained about the noise. They were convinced when his anonymous instructor rang again to check on the progress of the Lilliputian liberation operation.

The caller asked the deputies if all the cameras had been destroyed. Once he realised he was no longer talking to Jones, he said: "I have the wrong number," and hung up.

Further investigations revealed several other guests had reported strange phone calls to the front desk. No charges were filed against the hapless Jones, but management did ask him to leave.

The prank bears the hallmarks of several pulled in recent years by members of PrankNET. Watch the news clip and listen to the 911 call here. ®